Hi all, Haven't posted for a while as I am 'coping' but I came across the website for The London Endocrine Centre and wondered if it was worth a try - I still get exhausted. I appreciate they will be expensive, but my biggest problem is that if they prescribe something other than the 75mcg Levo that my GP insists is too high anyway, will my GP stand by the diagnosis and prescribe or will I have to pay for the medication prescribed and get written of completely by my own GP who is useless.

Also any ide of the costs involved - the consultation and the maybe other meds? I just want to be prepared. I would hate to go, then I couldn't afford the meds. Sorry a bit of a ramble but I'm in the dark. Any experience in this would be appreciated.

Can you ring them and enquire? The pa's are usually helpful and used to enquiries such as this. If you want to find out the cost of the drug try ringing a couple of private London hospitals and speak to pharmacy department.

I see Dr Paul Jenkins at the London Endocrine Centre and find him very good and thorough. Consultations are £230 although I think I recall that the first one was a little higher than that, and he will order a whole raft of blood tests and a thyroid scan initially too, so brace yourself for a hefty charge. Once he has assessed your status, costs become a bit less eye-watering, depending on how often you see him and which blood tests you need. He issues private prescriptions only, as he does not have an NHS clinic. But he will write to your NHS GP with his diagnosis and recommended prescription and you may be able to convince them to issue an NHS script for you, although I've never managed it. Good luck!

The costs of the initial barrage of tests will vary, depending on your individual circumstances and gender.

In my case, my first visit cost £360 for the initial consultation, with follow-up sessions costing £230 each. I also had an ultrasound scan of my thyroid, which cost £290, and an initial blood panel which cost £650 in my case. This included a comprehensive blood profile, FSH and LH (not sure if there is a male equivalent to these), HbA1C, free T3, reverse T3, insulin, thyroid antibodies, B12, folate, vit D and cortisol.

Ongoing thyroid profile tests for TSH, ft4 and ft3 cost £90, which I have a couple of weeks before each follow-up appointment.

I hope it helps. The blood tests are done at the Doctors' Laboratory on Wimpole St and are, as far as I can tell, slightly cheaper than some of the other Harley St area blood clinics. I don't believe there's a mark-up from Dr Jenkins on the cost of the tests, but the whole performance is undoubtedly expensive.

I've never been able to get much co-operation from my GP, hence my decision to go private in the first place. But you may find that Dr Jenkins will take recent NHS test results if you can persuade your GP to order them. Good luck!